Patents Examined by Brian R Kirby
  • Patent number: 11313337
    Abstract: A pulsation damper is small in size and can achieve an appropriate supporting force for a diaphragm damper. A pulsation damper accommodated in a case includes a diaphragm damper having a gas sealed therein, and a first support member and a second support member that are disposed between the case and the diaphragm damper and that hold the diaphragm damper.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2022
    Assignee: FUJIKOKI CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hideyuki Yanagiya, Shin Yoshida, Makoto Sudo
  • Patent number: 11293395
    Abstract: In an engine having fuel supply means for supplying fuel containing gasoline to a combustion chamber and ignition means for igniting an air-fuel mixture, if knocking occurs when ignition is performed at a reference ignition timing set on a retarded side of MBT that is an ignition timing at which the engine torque is maximized in a high-load region in which the engine load is larger than a predetermined load, ignition advance control that causes the ignition means to perform ignition at a timing on an advanced side of the reference ignition timing is performed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 5, 2022
    Assignee: Mazda Motor Corporation
    Inventors: Mitsuo Hitomi, Eiji Nakai, Naohiro Yamaguchi, Hiroki Morimoto
  • Patent number: 11293390
    Abstract: A fuel pump for a liquid fuel injection system of a motor vehicle is provided. The fuel pump for a fuel injection system includes a low-pressure pump that provides liquid fuel from a fuel tank of the motor vehicle at a low pressure. A high-pressure pump in fluid communication with the low-pressure pump and compresses the liquid fuel from the low pressure to a high pressure for injecting the liquid fuel into an internal combustion engine of the motor vehicle. A pump drive drives the low-pressure pump and the high-pressure pump synchronously with a pump frequency independently from an engine speed of the internal combustion engine of the motor vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 12, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 5, 2022
    Assignees: Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Motors Corporation
    Inventors: Stephan Revidat, Johannes Ullrich
  • Patent number: 11285571
    Abstract: A system comprises a holder including a mounting feature configured to mount to a flange of a fuel injector and a block including a mounting feature configured to mount to a side of the flange that is opposite from the holder. The system includes, punch configured to pass through at least one punch aperture in the block. The punch aperture is configured to guide a tip of the punch into position to deform a c-seal seated in a seal channel of the flange. A method for using the system using the system is also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 25, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2022
    Assignee: Delavan Inc.
    Inventor: Robert W. Vierhout
  • Patent number: 11285937
    Abstract: A catalyst warm-up control method for a hybrid vehicle supplies electric power to an electric motor by a battery, to charge the battery by a power generation engine, and to treat exhaust gas from the engine with a catalyst, the hybrid vehicle selecting a manner mode in which power generation using the engine is stopped. The catalyst warm-up control method performs catalyst warm-up control such that when the temperature of the catalyst becomes lower than a normal threshold temperature for activating the catalyst, the target rotation speed of the engine is controlled to a first warm-up required rotation speed at which the catalyst can be heated to a temperature that is higher than the normal threshold temperature. When the manner mode is selected, control is performed when temperature of the catalyst becomes lower than a manner mode threshold temperature that is equal to or less than the normal threshold temperature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2022
    Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shinsuke Higuchi, Hidekatsu Akiyama, Azusa Kobayashi, Keisuke Kawai, Takashi Kamijo, Tsuyoshi Ishikawa
  • Patent number: 11261811
    Abstract: Provided is a signal processing device capable of effectively reducing a work load of a parameter setting operator in response to an increase in parameters constituting complicated filter control. Therefore, in the signal processing device filters an output signal from a sensor mounted on a vehicle, setting is made with respect to a plurality of filters having different filter types or filter coefficients for setting a filter characteristic of a cutoff frequency or a pass band, an individual code is set for each of the plurality of filters, and the signal processing device includes a CPU that selects the individual code based on an engine operating state so that a corresponding filter is selected, and processes an output signal from the sensor using the filter that has been selected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2022
    Assignee: HITACHI ASTEMO, LTD.
    Inventor: Yoshihiko Akagi
  • Patent number: 11255307
    Abstract: A fuel injection device includes at least one fuel injector and a receiving bore in a cylinder head as well as a receiving opening of a fuel rail for the fuel injector. The fuel injector is sealed using at least one sealing ring against the walls of the receiving opening and secured in the receiving opening with the aid of a fastening element. A compensating element is provided that acts on the fastening element to prevent bending moments as a result of an asymmetrical suspension of the fuel injector at the fastening element from acting on the fuel injector. The fuel injector device is particularly suitable for directly injecting fuel into a combustion chamber of a mixture-compressing, spark-ignition internal combustion engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2022
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventor: Ralf Kromer
  • Patent number: 11248545
    Abstract: Systems and methods for operating an engine with deactivating and non-deactivating valves are presented. In one example, estimates of engine fuel consumption for operating the engine with a plurality of cylinder modes or patterns while a transmission is engaged in different gears are determined and are used as a basis for deactivating engine cylinders.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2022
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventor: Chris Paul Glugla
  • Patent number: 11248546
    Abstract: Engine controllers and control schemes are provided for managing engine state transitions requiring increased compressor pressure ratios in turbocharged engines operating in a cylinder output level modulation mode (e.g., skip fire, multi-level skip fire, or firing level modulation modes). In some circumstances, turbo lag can be mitigated by initially transitioning the engine to an intermediate effective firing density that is higher than both the initial and target effective firing density to increase the flow of gases through the engine and the turbocharger while maintaining a compressor ratio the same as or close to the initial compressor pressure ratio. After reaching a point where the desired torque is actually generated at the intermediate effective firing density, the operational effective firing density is gradually reduced to the target effective firing density while increasing the operational compressor pressure ratio to the target compressor ratio.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 26, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 15, 2022
    Assignees: Tula Technology, Inc., Cummins Inc.
    Inventors: Elliott A. Ortiz-Soto, Shahaboddin Owlia
  • Patent number: 11236694
    Abstract: An injector failure cylinder diagnosis method based on signal deviation of an injector failure diagnosis system measures, by a controller, noise/vibration signals due to the combustion of an engine, separates an injector abnormal frequency band signal as an injector signal from the noise/vibration signals, divides cylinder number time series data, which use a signal maximum value of the noise/vibration signals as a cylinder #1, into segments, extracts a feature vector after confirming a segment number of the cylinder #1 with a vibration reduction signal of the noise/vibration signals re-measured using one of the cylinders as an idle cylinder and sorting it by injector causing vibration time series data, and confirms a failure injector with the feature vector, thereby independently diagnosing whether the injector for each cylinder is normal or abnormal considering the deviation of the noise/vibration signals between the injectors for each cylinder from the measured noise and vibration signals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2022
    Assignees: HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY, KIA MOTORS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Seung-Hyun Lee, In-Soo Jung, Dong-Chul Lee
  • Patent number: 11226264
    Abstract: A method for the diagnosis of engine misfires in an internal combustion engine having at least one cylinder, and includes the steps of: Determining exhaust back pressure values of the individual cylinders over at least two working cycles, correlating the exhaust back pressure values with the camshaft position and/or the working cycle, determining the exhaust back pressure maxima and/or exhaust back pressure minima per working cycle, comparing the exhaust back pressure maxima and/or exhaust back pressure minima between the individual cylinders—in the case of multiple cylinders—and/or to maximum and/or minimum values from previous working cycles and determining the deviations, comparing the deviations to a predetermined threshold value. The invention also relates to a control device for carrying out the method and a motor vehicle including such a control device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 18, 2022
    Assignee: Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Andre Shurkewitsch, Heiko Sternberg, Nikolaus Zimbalist, Robert Wetten, Elmar Millich, Jan Vogelsang
  • Patent number: 11220987
    Abstract: Disclosed is a metal diaphragm damper that is hard to fracture even when repeated stress is applied thereto. A disk-shaped metal diaphragm damper is provided with diaphragms each having a deformable portion provided at the center and an outer circumferential fixation portion formed by outer circumferential rims of the diaphragms and that is filled with gas. The deformable portion has a third curved portion located at the radially outward side thereof and formed to be bulged; a first curved portion located radially inward of the third curved portion and formed to be bulged out; and a second curved portion located between the third curved portion and the first curved portion. The second curved portion includes at least one curved wall part which is formed to be dented in.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 11, 2022
    Inventors: Toshiaki Iwa, Yoshihiro Ogawa, Yusuke Sato
  • Patent number: 11215148
    Abstract: A power system comprises an engine configured to combust an air/fuel mixture and produce a flow of exhaust gas; an exhaust passageway fluidly connected to the engine to receive the flow of exhaust gas; an exhaust gas recirculation loop fluidly connecting the exhaust passageway to a fuel intake for the engine; a first conversion zone containing a fuel reforming catalyst located within the exhaust gas recirculation loop; and a second conversion zone located within the exhaust gas recirculation loop separate from and downstream of the first conversion zone stream, the second conversion zone containing a fuel cracking catalyst.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 3, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 4, 2022
    Assignee: EXXONMOBIL RESEARCH AND ENGINEERING COMPANY
    Inventors: Shamel Merchant, Eugine Choi, Walter Weissman, Tilman W. Beutel, John F. Brody, Gerardo Majano, Karl G. Strohmaier, Brian Weiss, Robert J. Colby, Makoto Koike, Hiroshi Miyagawa, Seiji Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 11208094
    Abstract: A hybrid vehicle has an engine (E) that is capable of changing a combustion mode between a stoichiometric combustion mode and a lean combustion mode and a motor/generator (MG) that is capable of performing torque assist by a power running operation and torque absorption by a regenerative operation. As a boundary between a stoichiometric combustion operating region and a lean combustion operating region, a second boundary (L2) at a torque decrease has a hysteresis at a low torque side with respect to a first boundary (L1) at a torque increase. Upon shift from the stoichiometric combustion operating region to the lean combustion operating region, for delay in increase of an intake-air quantity, decrease in fuel and the torque assist by the motor/generator (MG) are carried out, and an exhaust air-fuel ratio is changed stepwise.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 12, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 28, 2021
    Assignee: NISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Morihiro Nagamine, Hiromu Terai, Takeshi Watanabe, Atsushi Teraji, Hiroyuki Suzuki
  • Patent number: 11204008
    Abstract: Various embodiments include a fuel injection assembly comprising: a fuel injector; an injector cup comprising a cylindrical body with a cavity at the lower end to receive a fuel inlet port of the injector; a holding element for securing the injector to the cup; a spring clip; and a first opening formed in a peripheral wall of the cup for receiving the holding element. The holding element comprises a U-shaped body with two parallel arms engaging opposite sides of an annular groove in the injector to secure the injector in the cup. When inserted in the cup, the free ends of the two arms project from the cup, and include adjacent the free ends a retention arrangement engageable by the spring clip. The spring clip comprises a depending leg engageable in a corresponding receiving part on the injector to locate the angular position of the injector relative to the cup.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 21, 2021
    Assignee: VITESCO TECHNOLOGIES GMBH
    Inventors: Marco Pasquali, Andrea Puccini
  • Patent number: 11198423
    Abstract: A controller for a hybrid vehicle restarts an engine in a start mode selected from multiple start modes. The multiple start modes include a first start mode of starting combustion in the engine when a clutch starts transmitting torque and a second start mode of starting combustion in the engine after the clutch starts transmitting torque. The controller is configured to, in a case in which the engine is restarted in the second start mode, measure a cranking start time from when engagement of the clutch is commanded to when transmission of the torque through the clutch is started, and only when measurement of the cranking start time has been completed after the vehicle is activated, restart the engine in the first start mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 11, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 14, 2021
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Tomohiro Nakano
  • Patent number: 11199147
    Abstract: An engine control device includes an engine model having a neural network that inputs a manipulated variable of the engine and computes a controlled variable; and a controller that computes the manipulated variable so as to reduce a deviation between the controlled variable and a target controlled variable. The neural network includes an input layer to which the manipulated variable are input; a first hidden layer including a first fully connected layer; a second hidden later including a second fully connected layer that generates a plurality of second output values at a first time and has a return path on which the plurality of second output values at a second time, earlier than the first time, are input into the second fully connected layer; and an output layer from which the plurality of second output values at the first time are output as the controlled variable.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 14, 2021
    Assignee: TRANSTRON INC.
    Inventors: Noriyasu Aso, Masatoshi Ogawa
  • Patent number: 11199153
    Abstract: A fuel injection control method of injecting fuel to a combustion chamber through an injector, the method may include performing, by a controller electrically-connected to the injector, a main injection configured of controlling the injector to inject the fuel in a target injection fuel amount; and performing, by the controller, a pre-energizing configured of driving the injector to inject the fuel in advance, before the performing of the main injection with a predetermined idle time interposed therebetween, wherein the performing of the pre-energizing is configured of magnetizing an injector coil of the injector by applying a current to the injector during a predetermined pre-energizing time, in which a flow rate of the fuel is prevented from being generated by the pre-energizing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 3, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 14, 2021
    Assignees: Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Corporation
    Inventors: Jung-Suk Han, Chang-Jin Oh
  • Patent number: 11187165
    Abstract: A method for the open-loop and closed-loop control of an internal combustion engine, in particular a diesel engine or gas engine, with a generator and asynchronous machine, including the following steps: detecting at least one electrical characteristic variable of the generator, wherein the electrical characteristic variable is selected from current, voltage or frequency; determining a characteristic variable change in the electrical characteristic variable of the generator in a predetermined time interval; comparing the change in characteristic variable with a first threshold value; and in the event that the change in characteristic variable is greater than the first threshold value, changing from a standard speed control of the internal combustion engine to a feed-forward control.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 30, 2021
    Assignee: MTU FRIEDRICHSHAFEN GMBH
    Inventors: Stefan Hecker, Hendrik Weiss
  • Patent number: 11181078
    Abstract: A high-pressure pump includes a pressurizing chamber forming portion, a suction passage forming portion, a seat member, a valve member, a cylindrical member, a needle, a movable core, a biasing member, a fixed core, and a coil including a winding portion. The coil generates an attractive force between the fixed core and the movable core when the winding portion is energized. The coil includes an outer cylindrical surface and multiple inner cylindrical surfaces that have different diameters. The multiple inner cylindrical surfaces are arranged in order of increasing diameter in a direction toward a pressurizing chamber. The movable core has an end surface that faces the fixed core, and the end surface of the movable core is located between a center, in an axial direction, of a smallest diameter one of the plurality of inner cylindrical surfaces and a center, in an axial direction, of the outer cylindrical surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 23, 2021
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Keita Kurigami, Shinichiro Koshimoto, Yoshihito Suzuki, Hiroshi Inoue, Tatsumi Oguri, Keigo Ohata, Takayuki Makihara, Taiki Kukita